It's Not Too Late
by Tonks2004
Summary: Alice returns to Alaska only to find something she wasn't expecting. Claire/Alice


**This is my first attempt to write Resident Evil fanfic. Also, is there an official ship name for Alice and Claire? **

* * *

><p>Wind whipped at Alice's face as she sped through deserted roads. It had been 6 months since she'd seen anyone but the undead and almost 2 years since she'd seen Claire. She missed the days before the virus hit. The days of cell phones and internet. Now, there was no way for Claire to contact Alice and tell her if everyone made it safely to Alaska.<p>

Alice shook her head, clearing her head of all thoughts of the brunette. She knew Claire was going to be pissed at her, assuming she was even alive.

"_You're leaving." Claire said, keeping all emotion out of her voice as she watched Alice pack up her weapons._

"_I have to find Wesker." Alice stood up and stepped closer to Claire. "With him still alive, I can't be around you. It's not safe."_

_Claire knew it was inevitable. Alice and Wesker were like Harry and Voldemort. One of them had to die in the end. Claire just begged and prayed that it would be Wesker who'd meet the end first. _

"_How long?" The brunette asked, refusing to get emotional. _

"_4 months, tops." Alice promised, moving forward to place her hands on Claire's shoulders. "I'll take care of him and then meet you and everyone else in Alaska. I promise." She put her hand under Claire's chin and lifted her head up, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to the younger girl's lips. "I'll be back before you know it."_

_Claire forced a smile as Alice climbed into one of Umbrella's helicopters. Alice flipped a few switches and took off, not looking back. She knew if she did, she'd turn around. This mission was too important to back out of. _

Alice sighed. She had promised 4 months. And she was gone for 2 years. Claire probably thought she died or something else terrible. It wasn't intentional, though. It had taken her quite awhile to even find Wesker. She eventually settled on letting herself get caught by Umbrella so she could be taken to wherever Wesker was.

_Alice opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She was strapped to an operating table and there were IVs running through her. She vaguely remembered Umbrella closing in on her before everything blacked out. How long was she out? Alice yanked at the straps holding her down. _

"_Project Alice. Nice to see you awake." Wesker sneered over an intercom. The door to the lab opened and men in lab coats came in to check her vitals. _

"_How long have I been here?" Alice asked, still tugging at her straps._

"_A month."_

_Shit. She was late. Claire was going to kill her. _

"_We've been running tests on you, Project Alice." Wesker said, strutting into the room. "It seems that even though I injected you with the antivirus, your blood still has characteristics normal humans lack. I hope you don't mind, but I ingested some of your blood while you were asleep to help me bond with the T-virus." He said with an evil smile. _

Alice glanced down at her arm, full of needle marks and cuts. As it turned out, Wesker kept her heavily sedated so he could feast on her blood daily. Alice was kept in a weakened state for months before she could muster up the strength to kick the shit of Wesker and his Umbrella slaves.

And then it took her a couple months to travel this far. But she suspected she was close. An hour or two more of driving and she would be in Alaska. Then she just needed to find Claire.

* * *

><p>Claire wiped her brow as she took a short break from chopping wood. She had been out for a couple hours, but she was avoiding going home, just like every night. She would probably stop and see K-Mart before heading back, like she did most nights.<p>

She stood up straighter and looked at her little town. She had started off with a convoy of about 40 people and now she had a town of 200. There were other people in charge, a "government" of sorts for their small village, but everyone still seemed to come to her for advice. Nobody but K-Mart, however, understood how much she needed help of her own.

_"It's okay to cry, you know." A voice from behind Claire said, putting a hand on her shoulder. The brunette had just placed a cross in the ground for Alice. It had been a year and Claire had given up hope. _

_"Same to you, kid." Claire said, not looking at K-Mart._

_"I'm more worried about you." K-Mart said softly. _

_"I'm fine." Claire said, forcing a smile. "Let's go chop some wood. I'm running out." But K-Mart knew that Claire had enough firewood to last her 6 months at least. _

Claire only ever visited the makeshift grave at night, when no one else was awake, save for whoever was on duty, watching over the town and making sure no undead found them. They had only had a couple run ins with them since starting the town, which Claire was forever grateful for.

Claire sighed and made her way to K-Mart's house. She lived with a couple other young women they picked up on the way to Alaska.

"Shouldn't you be at home?" K-Mart asked with a raised brow as she opened the door to let Claire in. Claire just shrugged and K-Mart knew she was avoiding her house.

"You should just break up with him." She said, quietly.

A couple months after placing the cross, Claire went out with one of the men in the town. He was nice and sweet, and Claire didn't find any harm with it. Things just kept moving forward, and Claire let it. And now, she was apparently in love with him and they were living together. She felt bad for letting it get so far, but she didn't know how to break it off now. Besides, he was decent company, and she couldn't bare going to sleep alone at night.

"You know I can't." And that was the end of their conversation, just like every other night. They sat together, mostly in silence, until Claire finally went back to her house. K-Mart wished she could do something. Seeing Claire hurting so badly was torture. She just wanted Alice to be alive and to come back and save Claire. She prayed for it everyday.

* * *

><p>Alice's eyes were closing as she rode along a gravel road. She was exhausted but she knew she had to be getting close. When she saw a couple lights up ahead, her heart began to race, and she sped up. She made it to the small town in record time. She saw someone walking along the fence that enclosed the village and called out to them, trying not to frighten them so they'd end up shooting her.<p>

"Alice?" K-Mart stopped dead in her tracks. She was on duty, making sure no undead made it through their fence. She thought maybe she was seeing things because she was so tired.

"K-Mart." Alice breathed, running forward. She hopped the fence and beamed at the girl. She had gotten taller.

K-Mart lunged forward and pulled Alice into a bone crushing hug. "Where have you been? I thought you died."

Alice ruffled her hair. "It's a long story, which I promise to tell you. But first, where's Claire? Is she all right?"

K-Mart swallowed and pulled back. "The thing is... she's fine but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know if you want to see her just yet."

Alice's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"She's at home, probably asleep."

"So I'll wake her up."

"She's with her boyfriend."

Alice froze. Claire had a boyfriend? She should have expected that Claire wouldn't have waited for her. The rest of the night was a blur. Alice didn't speak again, no matter how much K-Mart tried to get her to talk. K-Mart gave up her bed so Alice would have a comfortable place to sleep. Alice didn't care.

"I'll bring you to her tomorrow." K-Mart whispered, kissing Alice on the forehead before shutting the lights off. Alice didn't succumb to sleep the entire night. Twice she got up to leave for good, but she couldn't do that to K-Mart. She didn't know how long she could bare to stay, though. It seemed like it would be hell.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh shit! Poor Alice. So.. thoughts? Leave a review and I'll be a happy camper.<strong>


End file.
